Metroplex boost sought for St. James Square woes BY STEVEN COOK Gazette Reporter
NISKAYUNA — The troubled St. James Square could soon be getting some help from the county Metroplex Development Authority, town officials said Thursday. The Town Board took the fi rst steps toward putting the property under the umbrella of the county authority, something that they said would provide more opportunities to get more tenants into the facility off Balltown Road. “This is an opportunity for the town of Niskayuna to take advantage of every tool the Metroplex Development Authority has to offer,” Supervisor Joe Landry said. The board is expected to formally call for a public hearing later this month. The public hearing would come in April. The plaza has been struggling for years. It lost its anchor in 2001 and its former owner ultimately fi led for bankruptcy. Realty Equities Management purchased the property in 2006 from TD Banknorth, which took it from the former owner, Reginald Scott. The purchase covered roughly half the structure, about 93,000 square feet. A portion to the east of the Grand Union remains for sale. But the plaza has made some progress in recent years. LT’s Grill opened last year. But there is still an estimated 80,000 square feet of empty space. Metroplex has provided some assistance in the past, officials said, but its impact has been limited. With the property included in the Metroplex area, a full range of assistance would be available. “We can really increase efforts to try to fill that space,” authority chairman Ray Gillen said. Should St. James Square be included, it would join two other portions of the town eligible for Metroplex help. The Route 5 corridor and the Hillside Avenue area are already included.
The metroplex has no business with st.james square. It should be left up to private investors. NOT AT THE TAXPAYERS EXPENSE. Metroplex hasn't even completed it's pending developments now! They have either gone bankrupt or have never opened. The metroplex dumped millions into Proctors, which is a non-profit AND historic. So it should have been able to receive state grants.
Metroplex has failed miserably up to this point and should be abolished. It has used and abused enough of the taxpayers money.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
SCHENECTADY COUNTY Metroplex seeks broader scope Longer lifespan, $25M raise in bond cap sought BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Michael Lamendola at 395-3114 or lamend@dailygazette.com
The Metroplex Development Authority wants to increase its bond cap by another $25 million and its life by five years to tackle additional projects outside of downtown, officials said. The Schenectady County Legislature reviewed the home rule legislation Monday night; it will vote on the matter April 8, sending it to the state Legislature for approval. Metroplex was created in 1999 and is scheduled to expire in 2028. The proposed legislation extends the expiration date to 2033, giving Metroplex the authority to receive one-half of 1 percent of county sales tax revenue until then. This totals approximately $7 million annually. The same legislation would continue to provide towns with $3 million annually in sales tax money. Metroplex Chairman Ray Gillen said raising Metroplex’s bond the cap would allow it to continue creating jobs and expanding the tax base,. “Metroplex can support additional debt at this level given income stream and loan repayments and our excellent credit rating,” he said. Since its creation, Metroplex has issued $42 million of its current $50 million bond cap, including: $3.5 million to add extra tiers to the Broadway Parking Garage; $2.2 million for the State Street streetscape project; $356,000 for the Upper Union streetscape project; $1.4 million for Vale Village improvements; $9.5 million for Proctors’ expansion and renovation; $4 million to purchase and repair surface parking lots in the city; $8 million to build the MVP parking garage; and $750,000 for the Little Italy streetscape project. Gillen said the remainder went toward infrastructure projects in various towns and to leverage federal and state dollars. “This is only a small list of projects. Many other projects are funded out of direct sales tax proceeds. It is also important to note that towns received more than $25 million in direct funding from the legislation since 1999,” Gillen said. Gillen said Metroplex has stopped the practice of issuing large grants for projects and now mostly issues loans tied to collateral. Grants that it does provide are limited to infrastructure projects, such as facade repair, demolition or removal of hazardous materials. County Legislator Vincent DiCerbo, D-Schenectady, chairman of the Legislature’s Economic Development Committee, said the additional repayment years are important, as few bonds are issued for less than 20 or 30 years. “This allows Metroplex to borrow at a more favorable rate by going out at least 20 years,” DiCerbo said. “It gives them more flexibility to borrow money against sales tax. It is something that is needed as development moves into the towns.” DiCerbo said the towns have various industrial parks and are developing shovel-ready sites. “I think that is where a lot of development will occur in the next five years. That is where the land is available and where the job creation will occur,” he said. With that in mind, Metroplex recently outlined a series of goals for the towns in upcoming years regarding economic development. In Niskayuna, Metroplex will help redevelop St. James Square, find new uses for excess space at the OD Heck center, find a second tenant for the Niskayuna Tech Park and fill remaining space in the former Nova Bus building. In Glenville its goals include: obtaining final approval from the Federal Aviation Administration for a road to open up development of Patriots Square near the county airport; press the federal government to declare surplus land at the Scotia Naval Depot, which can be incorporated into existing industrial park properties; work with Glenville on its master plan; pursue the sale and redevelopment of the former GE test site in Alplaus; and attract tenants to the former Kmart site. Metroplex’s Rotterdam goals are to: develop a facade project for Hamburg Street merchants; find tenants for vacant buildings, including the former Grand Union; work with developers to bring in water and sewer lines along Route 7 and Hamburg Streets; and put the former Army housing complex in the town back on the tax rolls.
While they're at it why don't they take some of our excess water out of Rotterdam and stop some of the flooding that happens every heavy rainstorm and in the spring.
How long will Rotterdam and the other counties have to wait for their improvements? Will it be an additional 10 or perhaps 20 years? Where is the metroplex's vision and plan for the future? I mean in detail. Such as, exactly WHEN will Rotterdam got the sewers? Proctors got the big $9+Million. The 2 blocks of State Street got the big bucks. So again, when exactly can we in Rotterdam expect our infrastructure? Gillen states they are the 'goals'. How about a 'promise'? Give us a directive. Give us a time line to go by.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
They have already spend MOST of the money in less than 10years and they want more? I agree with you modbil, this will end up being just like the thruway authority. A deep well that will never be filled.
I seemed to have gotten the impression that what Gillen says, with out actually saying it, that they did it somewhat wrong in these first 10 years. He seems to be changing his tune on what they will do with this money.
However...this metroplex should be stopped and banned and abolished. Schenectady is truly no better off than it was in 1999. Crime, high taxes, infrastructure and lack of jobs (good paying) are still a MAJOR issue!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
This letter was submitted to the Gazette's opinion section:
Quoted Text
"Just Say No" to Metroplex Bond Cap Increase
I am writing to comment on the story ("Metroplex seeks broader scope Longer lifespan, $25M raise in bond cap sought") that appeared in the April 1st edition of the Daily Gazette. It stated that on March 31st, Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority Chairman Ray Gillen proposed to the Schenectady County Legislature that the charter of the public authority be extended by five years to 2033 and that the bond cap be increased by $25 million. At a time when county taxpayers are facing an estimated $16M budget shortfall for 2009 and the likelihood of an increase in both property tax and county sales tax rates, it is time that our elected "leaders" demonstrate responsible leadership, exercise fiscal restraint and reject this spending request at their April 8th meeting.
The redistribution of public revenues by the Metroplex in the form of financial grants and zero/low interest loans to private business owners and developers has improved the appearance of some buildings in a several block section of downtown Schenectady. This is exemplified by Proctors Theater, which has received $9.5 million in financing through Metroplex guaranteed bonds in addition to hundreds of thousands of dollars in property tax revenues awarded by the Schenectady County Legislature. However, despite the assertions made by Gillen at a March 3rd annual report to the County Legislature, I question the "successes" of the Metroplex and the return on the taxpayers "investment” as gauged by the creation of high paying career jobs for which the Metroplex can legitimately claim credit and by the revenues realized from an increased property tax base and sales tax receipts.
Rather than requesting an increase in borrowing limits, Metroplex Chairman Gillen and the Metroplex Board of Directors should focus their attention on recovering the funds invested in the Big House, 411 State Street, Van Dyke Restaurant, and the Cyclics Corporation; projects for which either the terms of the loan repayments have been not been fulfilled and/or projected job creation, that was cited in the project plans, has not been realized. Accountability of revenues and those who borrow them will provide funds required for future projects.
In a conversation with Mr. Kenneth Madej of the New York State Office of the State Comptroller's Office, I was informed that a financial audit of the Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority has been scheduled. This is the first independent and comprehensive audit performed by New York State since the creation of the Metroplex in 1999. The Legislators should wait to address Mr. Gillen's request until the audit is completed and the results are released. There is no need to act in haste in rendering a decision as the current charter of the Metroplex expires in 2028, leaving sufficient time to act if warranted.
While the county residents struggle to "make ends meet" in their home budgets, the County Legislature is contemplating approving a request by the Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority to take on an additional $25M in debt. The residents of Schenectady county must reject those "representatives" in government who embrace and institute a "tax and spend" mentality.
They are going to strap the residents with a $75 Million tax debt? They don't even know if this metroplex thing is going to work yet. It obviously has not worked as of yet and they spent just about all of the money already. Isn't there any oversite other than another democrat?
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Anyone taking a drive through downtown Schenectady these days would have to be impressed by the transformation that’s taken place since the Metroplex Development Authority was created. Nine years later, there’s abundant evidence of life — day and night — with a greatly expanded Proctors, a couple of new hotels, several upscale eateries, a spiffy multi-screen cinema, new office buildings and attractive facades where empty storefronts and eyesores once dominated. Metroplex has been behind most of this development. In short, it has accomplished everything its creators envisioned and then some — all with less than the $50 million it was authorized to borrow, against future sales tax receipts. However, it is within $8 million of that ceiling, and wants the county Legislature to ask the state to raise it by $25 million. At the same time, it wants its authority extended another five years, from 2028 to 2033. We see no reason not to grant either request. For all its success in downtown Schenectady, Metroplex’s work is hardly done. The so-called “pizza block” across from the Hampton Inn is still in limbo, as is the Robinson’s building, the lower Erie Boulevard makeover and the Alco project. It’s hard to imagine that, for however much Metroplex has already spent on these projects, it won’t have to spend at least some more. Chairman Ray Gillen has shown he knows how to get pretty good bang for Metroplex bucks, forcing developers to put up the lion’s share on most projects, providing loans instead of grants, etc. Some of the investments perhaps haven’t panned out the way they were supposed to — the Van Dyck and Big House come to mind — and some help was given or proposed for suburban projects that probably didn’t need it (e.g. Time Warner early on and St. James Square recently). But by and large, the authority has done its job well — especially since Gillen took control. Expanding its borrowing authority is necessary if the progress is to continue, while extending the length of its authority five years is mostly a technical measure to facilitate future borrowing. The county and state legislatures should go for both.
Metroplex good at bankrolling bars, but more is needed in city
Metroplex recently called me, suggesting I meet them regarding my property at 138-142 Jay Street. Ten minutes into the meeting, I realized my time was being wasted. Metroplex Chairman Ray Gillen had the arrogance to ask whether I was current on my taxes and suggested I invest some money in the two spaces I have to rent. I know that any commercial concern will need to fit the space according to their specific needs. During the meeting, I questioned the opening and backing of all the bars. Ray did not like that and remarked how on a Thursday night he could not find a table at one of the bars. I doubt that it’s the case today. Just because you can’t get a table at a bar one night does not mean it’s a success, therefore pat yourself on the back and move to the next press release. Every new bar opening tends to cannibalize others. Gillen speaks as if it’s his money to distribute. He needs to understand that the taxpayers are footing the bill and ultimately paying for the risks he takes. Ray Gillen needs to keep quiet at Jay Street merchant meetings and admit that Metroplex has chosen who it wants to fund, and the “cashola” isn’t available to everybody. Some of those who have been funded don’t need to be subsidized by taxpayers. For the sake of hard-working Schenectadians, I hope I am wrong, but I see some serious trouble down the road with all the bars, restaurants and clubs opening up without a stable residential or commercial base. Union College is an exclusive club with a small population we hardly see. They have everything they need on campus. Unless this private institution has a surprise for the city, quadrupling or quintupling its population, all these entertainment venues are not sustainable. Wake up, Schenectadians. Your roads, sidewalks, parks and pools need immediate attention. You can spend billions on facades; if the streets are not filled with people, it means nothing. EMBAREK MESBAHI Schenectady
Logged
Excellent letter sir.
